Go Go Squid! (2019)

"A person with a dream will forever be young" ~ Go Go Squid

Go Go Squid was more than a romance drama: it was a motivating story that told of the characters' heart-wrenching past, their friendships, and their everlasting, enduring dreams. I've always been drawn to esports or computer-related dramas ever since watching Falling Into Your Smile, and I can see the parallel events between the two dramas. Both were amazing, but this one has a special place in my heart. Whether its the K&K members that always had me burst out laughing, or the cute scenes between the couples that made me smile, or the nostalgic flashbacks that left my heart aching at their regrets, or the OSTs that made me contemplate on the lyrics, this drama pretty much had it all. For my personally, the most important wasn't the romance between the main couple; The dream shared by the K&K members, everyone else in the CTF field, and of course, the one who carried it all on his shoulder, Han ShangYan, touched me the most. This drama had many lessons that deserves their recognition, and it motivates me to chase my dreams as well.

**Story**:
The synopsis tells the storyline of the drama, so I won't elaborate too much about it. However, I do want to mention a few details that contributes to the overall story. The story is mainly set in ShangHai in addition to a few places where the teams compete such as BeiJing, GuangZhou, and SanYa. Go Go Squid isn't actually about esports. It revolves around a complicated competition called CTF (Capture The Flag) that requires skilled professionals to defend computer systems and solve challenging cyber security problems. Most outside of the field don't understand what it is truly about and their mistaken the professionals as people who waste their time and lives playing computers. The team members don't bother with others' misunderstandings, but they work hard and train to not make money but to bring glory and honor to their country. Underlying their mischievous and playful personalities is a shared dream: to secure the world champion. Their determination, persistence, courage, and hard work really touched me in the drama.

**Acting/Cast**: --this is going to be long--
Han ShangYan (Actor: Li Xian 李现) is a retired CTF member who now owns the K&K team and is the boss to the K&K members. To me, he was the most interesting character. Throughout the entire show, I found myself trying to understand him and figure out his past and what he held at heart that he refused to reveal. His hidden pain, dreams, regret, sadness, and loneliness created the emotionless, cold character that we saw in the beginning of the show. That is, until he met Tong Nian, to whom he finally opened up to. He had one of the brightest and warmest smiles in the show; I can't express the happiness I felt seeing his smile. The few emotions he showed (later in the show) had me in tears as well. Han ShangYan is also one of the most selfless people I've ever seen...in his own way of course. He gave up on his dream and learned his lesson but he now devotes his life to help what he calls "kids" to achieve the dream they share. I don't think nothing in the show could express the amount of pressure and pain he felt from his past. He was lonely and sad but full of passion and dreams. In addition, the five main K&K members (97, Demo, One, Grunt, and DT) view him not just as their boss, but also their older brother who cares for them, shares their dream, and helps them fight for that dream. There were a few scenes in the drama where Han ShangYan went into their room at night to help clean up their mess, tuck them in bed, and make sure they get rest and were healthy; Those simple scenes touched me a lot because it illustrated their strong relationship. Even though the five K&K members were shown to be "afraid" and feared Han ShangYan, one could easily tell that they truly respected and understood that he cared for them from the bottom of his heart. Li Xian did an outstanding job portraying such as tough character. In real life, he is happy and full of smiles, so to act as someone who is mean outside but warm at heart is tough, but I can't imagine another actor doing this job. Not to mention, his smirks and facial expressions in the show had me squealing at times.

Tong Nian aka You XiaoYu (Actress: Yang Zi 杨紫) is the complete opposite personality of Han ShangYan but they attracted like a proton and electron. She became the only person who truly understood the thoughts and pain of Han ShangYan, as well as his desperation and dream of helping the K&K "kids" fulfill their dreams. She was so understanding and supportive. Although there were some parts I questioned or got annoyed regarding her decisions and personality, I chose to overlook them because of the cute relationship she had with Han ShangYan. Tong Nian excelled at her studies, and she was extremely well-liked by the K&K members, who called her "sister-in-law". I found this to be super cute and wholesome, for they respected her at first glance and accepted her. I've seen a few of YangZi's dramas, such as Battle of ChangSha, and I know she's been acting since she was young. She fulfilled this role beyond my expectations. Her crying scenes were on point, and at times, I couldn't believe how real the scenes seemed. An indeed well done!

I would like to commend each of the K&K members. They honestly were amazing, and to me, the show was complete with them. Every time the five of them were in the same frame, I knew that they would bring a smile to my face. They were so contagious and spread so much happiness. I admire their strong relationship as they trained, ran, played, and joked with each other. This kind of friendship is rare nowadays. I feel that it would not serve them right to not mention them:
*DT/WuBai (Actor: HuYiTian 胡一天）was quite the character. He was very similar to his brother: quiet, serious, and rarely showing emotions. I'm going to admit, I found myself falling for his attractiveness, his smirks, and those eyes...Anywho, DT was, once again like his brother (actually cousin), smart and #1 in the field. He had a ferocity and hunger in his eyes to win as champions with his team. As the leader, he had power and earned the respect from his team. Yet, he became the funder for his cousin's relationship. In the second season (Go Go Squid 2: Dt and Appledog's Time), his relationship with SP's Appledog was elaborated. Although I have not watched it, this first season already left me in butterflies. Wu Bai's first smile and inspiration comes from AppleDog. Hu YiTian did a phenomenal job portraying WuBai. I first watched him in "A Love So Beautiful", but his portrayal in this drama was absolutely amazing.
*97 (Actor: Li MingDe 李明德) was definitely one of my favorites. He was one of the strongest advocates for Han ShangYan and Tong Nian's relationship. I found myself cracking up on his expressions, jokes, and roller skates, but I was touched by his serious attitude and perseverance in training as a professional competitor. I was first introduced to the actor Li MingDe in the 2018 film "When We Were Young" (highly recommend) and saw him once more in "Lovely Us" (also recommend). He did wonderful in both, but I really enjoyed his acting in this drama. I look forward to more of his works in the future!
*Grunt (Actor: Wen YiFan 文苡帆) had the looks. His glasses, hair, and outfits were on point. He also always brought a smile to my face but left me in tears at certain points in drama. I can't believe the actor was 31-32 when he filmed the drama because it looked like he was 20 haha but he was also wonderful!
*One (Actor: Xu LeXiao 许乐骁). His determination in training and his humble attitude when the inevitable came really taught me a lesson. There's people out there who are talented at certain things, and sometimes, hard work can't beat that. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't work hard because you will always have a chance to chase your dreams. One has taught me that with his experience in the show. The actor also did a nice job portraying him!
*Demo (Actor: Yu ChengEn 余承恩) was definitely one of my favorites in the show. The trio (Demo, 97, and Grunt) had me cracking up at times; They were definitely the highlight! Demo was the baby of the team, and I found myself loving him like he was my child. He was so cute, innocent, hard working, and it seemed that he was too young to understand certain things like divorce and love. He always put others before him, and he knew that he had his "older brothers" who would look out and protect him. Yu ChengEn was one of the youngest in the cast (around 20), but he did amazing. I look forward to more of his works!!

Next, I would like to mention the Solo Team...the OG group that carried the most stories, accomplishments, and pain. Consisting of Solo/Wang Hao (leader), ALL (Ou Qiang), Gun (Han ShangYan), Appledog (Ai Qing), and XiaoMi (Mi ShaoFei), they were the ones that started off in the CTF field and brought China into this competition. They fought off all doubts, hatred, accusations, and mockery from others. They started off from nothing. Living in a big city, they fought to eat, stay clothed, sleep, but they were motivated by their dream: world champions. Sadly, life struck them and they were forced to disband. Each going their own ways, some kept playing, some retired, some left completely, and some chased the dream on a different route. Han ShangYang retired at the best age. Appledog lost her love and also retired. Solo had to assume responsibilities as a dad. XiaoMi left and went home, thinking his dream was gone. ALL kept fighting, but without his team, it was different. Life forced them all to grow up. Ten years. What hit me was seeing the flashbacks and how young and free they each were as they fought for their dream. During their youth, they laughed and enjoyed life despite not having money or other's approval. Yet, ten years later, they all drastically changed. It was unbelievable for me to see this comparison.
*XiaoMi/Mi ShaoFei (Actor: Lee HongChi 李鴻其) was one of my favorites. He thought that he would never achieve his dream and almost gave up. Life hit him hard because he had to face the reality that he was getting older and the younger generations were dominating. On the bright side, he had a wonderful girl, Sun YaYa, by him who encouraged and supported him in whatever he did, and most importantly, she helped him achieve his dreams. The actor was one of the best. He crying and scenes where he yelled and expressed his anger left me in awe. Words can't explain how well his acting was.
- Sun YaYa (Actor: Jiang PeiYao) was a bright, encouraging, and cute girl. The relationship between her and XiaoMi was one of my favorites; I can say that at times, I liked them more than the main couple. Also, the actress was just gorgeous; Her smile was stunning...I don't blame XiaoMi falling for her at first sight.

Lastly, I want to commend the rest of the characters (and actors/actresses portraying them), whether it was Su Cheng, Nan Wei, One's mom, Tong Nian's parents, Han ShangYan's mom, or the cats, they all were awesome. And of course, Han ShangYan's grandpa was the ultimate supporter and matchmaker. Han ShangYan and Tong Nian owe him one for their relationship haha.

**Music**:
I am a very big music person, and the OST of a drama contributes a lot to how I feel about it. This drama had some touching OSTs, and their lyrics were just astounding. Here are some of my favorites:

1. "Nameless Generation“ 《无名之辈》sang by Chen XueRang, aka cdrama OST King. Many of my favorite OSTs in dramas are sung by him, so I wasn't surprised when he sang this powerful song as well. His voice is just breathtaking. This song was definitely my favorite in the drama; I didn't skip the intro because of how much I loved this song. The lyrics made me tear up at times: "It doesn't matter who is forgotten. Who doesn't fight until the end of life? It may be tiring and exhausting. It may be humbling, a lifetime of waiting. It may never become your glory...Continue to chase it. Whose glory is not accompanied by tears?" This song depicts who Han ShangYan is as well as what life it. The song is full of emptiness and loneliness, like Han ShangYan was. No one understood him, and he didn't care if anyone understood, but Tong Nian did. He was forgotten and became nameless, but it didn't matter. He kept on chasing his dreams.

2. "Sky" 《海阔天空》sung by Beyond. When this song first played in the first episode, I cried. Beyond was a generation, just like how Solo was a generation. This was their song and millions of others around the world. It tells the pain of chasing one's dreams and to never, ever give up: "Chasing dreams in wind and rain...facing vast sky, wide ocean, would you and I change (who is not changing?) How many times have I faced the cold-eyed and ridicule? Never have I given up my heart's hope and ideals...Forgive me, I have been unruly and a love of freedom all my life. I too, fear I might fall down someday. Anyone can abandon their dreams. I'm not afraid if someday there's only left you and me (chasing our dreams)...Still I am free and independent. Forever singing my song, traveling thousands of miles." This song forever holds a special place in my heart.

3. "Glory" 《光耀》sung by Lara Liang. This is a very upbeat song that I believe belongs to the teams in CTF as they stand and fight on stage. The lyrics are very motivating: "I've decided to stand in this unknown distance...let's go together...when dreams have come to this perspective...Let the brave reveal the endless pride and glory. Your firm gaze is always forward...Overcoming new difficulties and new heartbeats...Let your teen spirit shine". Specifically, I think this song if made for the K&K team and its members. They are a team and that team spirit was unbeatable. It was so amazing to witness as they stood together, trained, worked hard, fought, chased, and won together. The feeling was unbelievable. I found myself as nervous as they each were before a competition, as sad and disappointed but not hopeless when they lost, and as happy and excited as they were when they won. A truly amazing feeling.

**What some may DISLIKE**:
Some may find the reason for Solo team's disband to be absurd. I won't spoil too much, but I do want to say that they were young and yes, they made their decisions based on anger and how they felt at the time. This led to a lot of regrets, which were clearly illustrated in the drama. Who didn't make a stupid decision during their youth? If not, were you ever young before? This was obviously a big decision and many lessons could be learned from it. Also, some might find the main girl's personality a little frustrating or annoying at times because I did sometimes as well, but I chose to overlook it. It you are not a fan of some cringey scenes or lots of sweet scenes, this drama may not be your cup of tea, but who knows? You might like it, so don't hesitate to give it a chance.
At first, I was a little annoyed or bothered that Beyond's song was sung in Mandarin Chinese and not in Cantonese since the original version was in Cantonese. For me, even though I don't speak Cantonese, it hits harder. I assume it's because of copyrights, so I soon got used to the Mandarin version.

**Life Lessons/Things I've Learned**:
1. Life is full of regrets. Don't dwell on them because they will make you lose hope. Instead, transform them. Change them into lessons you can learn or points in life that helped you grow. Rethink decisions and avoid making decisions based on feeling.

2. Never, ever stop chasing your dreams. Life is going to hit and throw obstacles at you. People are going to ridicule and doubt you, but show them. Show them that you are capable of achieving beyond your dreams. Yes, there are more talented and smarter people out there. Sometimes, you may work so hard but not reach their level. But that is OKAY! It doesn't mean you shouldn't try. You should always try...so you won't live a life of regrets.

3. Never give up on your friends. Keep fighting alongside them. Open your heart sometimes and let those worthy to see what it's inside. You might be surprised. Love. Have fun. Enjoy life.

**Favorite Quotes**:
1. "In the past two years and three months, I have won, lost, laughed, cried, been questioned, criticized, shady...never justified, and need not be justified. Tonight, the Huayan is finally over, and success and fame are achieved, and the eyes are full of absurdity." -- Han ShangYan

2. "But I can't claim success because I gave up. So I sincerely hope that you don't give up halfway. In the face of any game in your life, you must do your best... No one wants to leave, all choices are forced and helpless, the cruelest is the end of the hero, so I hope you, in your final days at a good age, fight hard and count as far as you can, so that you will not leave regrets in this life." -- Han ShangYan

3. "It's like when two people go for a walk, you don't need to say anything, but slowly the pace will be the same, and you will see the scenery you each are admiring" -- Tong Nian's mom

**Rewatch**:
9/10. Whenever I need motivation for my dreams or want a powerful song to listen to, I know which drama to come back to. This drama pretty much has it all. Whenever I miss the K&K team, small Demo, the trios, Han ShangYan's smile, the cute romance between the couples (especially XiaoMi and YaYa), and DT's smirks, I know where to go. This drama deserves its recognition and this rewatch value!! Thank you to the cast, crew, writer of the novel from which the drama was developed from, and everyone else contributing to this masterpiece!

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really i liked this drama
nice story and scenes



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What I want to tell everyone when considering this title :)

Hey :)
Normally I don't write reviews so please bear with me for this one. When I considered this title I read a lot of comments and reviews for it, and then watched it. If u are wondering whether or not to watch it, the answer for me personally would be YES!, but in the following, I will mention some things to help u decide on your own.

The "Bad" Stuff a.ka. the things I disliked or others mentioned and I noticed, too:
THE BEGINNING
For me, this drama started fairly cute with their first meet and then just did not catch me in the romance department at first. Maybe because I am one hell of an introvert and I felt like I would never (be able to) act the way the FL did (not that that is a bad thing, she is just rather extroverted). Still, I continued watching because during the beginning what catched me really though was the flashbacks. And yes, I know, flashbacks can be sooo annoying. But these were really nice. They told the story of the original e-sport team solo, while parallely showing us the members in the current time. During those flashbacks we learned how they are connected but we still do not learn, why their relationships went sour. For this part I must applaud the writers: I really didn't feel the instant connection to the romance at first, but the background was really really nicely set and I was hooked on their story!
-> if u want to see an amazingly sweet lovestory don't give up in the first 1/4 of the drama (maybe just skip a few scenes now an then if u don't want to wait toooo long)

THE FEMALE LEAD'S JOB
The summary tells us what she does professionally and that she is a smart bee. The drama does not focus on this much. Many reviews mentioned that she is just not put in focus on her dreams much. And too SOME extend I agree. We get to see her in her school a lot, and we get to see her talk about it. It is mentioned and sometimes shown a little (f.e. signing event). It is just not the main focus of the drama. Do I dislike this? NO, because I see it that way: This drama is about the e-sports team and their leader GUN, who falls in love with the female lead. Of course, other dramas have shown us how nicely both storylines can be included but I don't mind that this one did not. They still mention her songs, and her job as a "future scientist", and we even get really cute romantic interactions out of it.
-> if u want to watch a drama about a successful women focusing on her job, that might not be ur drama -sorry :)

and that's it for the bad stuff for me

The "Good" Stuff a.k.a the reason why I want to watch this title again and why I wanted to write this review.
THE ACTORS/ACTING
Oh boy, I just can say. I loved it. The main cast were so perfect in their storytelling. The ML was just chef's kisses. I really bought the cold/resevered trainer turned sweetly smiling lover, and to be honest, I fell in love with him, too. And the FL, sweet and innocent but really mature in the relationship. Smart and independent on her job(s) but really sweet and lovely when with him. The other cast members were also really really nice.

THE LOVESTORY
It starts from a short meeting in a internet cafe and it end just as sweet as sugar. Did I hate the ml at some points for being so cold? Ah, maybe. But that was also his charm. And what I have to add: Oh boy, what a really really nice and relatebly done "cold-turned-to-loving-and-devoted". It was not a change like day/night just because he fell in love with her. While writing this reaaaallllly long review I thought about the changes the people went through at certain stages of the drama. The ML has the biggest. And it is so well done. It's relateable, sweet and fun to see him grow out of his past terrors and opening up, first to only her and then to the whole team and his (old) friends.
Is there a lovers drama? Yes, and I hated it, but it fit right in. To be honest I skipped a few scenes during that time because I just did not want to see them separated long, but it was not painfully made. They found together pretty quickly and they stayed together from that point on.


I know I am taking too much of ur time, so I will stop here. Many things are unsaid about this drama and I could talk about it for a very long time. I don't want to praise it to much. It is certainly not the best drama I have ever seen, but it certainly also is not the worst. It's a really fun drama, with a really good cast and acting, a nice story, a funny match-making grandpa, an interesting background story, one of the sweetest age-gap-romances I know, some e-sports background with a funny group of young boys calling the FL "sister-in-law" right from the beginning (I love that! O2O vibes honestly), and a rewatch value (at least for me:))

If u still here, and consider watching that drama, my 2 seconds of advice:
Stick to it, and get over the first quarter of the drama to see a really sweet romance unfold in front of u! Don't give up, only because the first 8-10 ep. don't really catch ur romantic heart just yet!

have fun watching and I hope I could help u, if not, sorry ^^

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After constantly being recommended this on Netflix, I finally decided to give it a shot. No regrets! I really enjoyed it Yang Zi is a great actress and I really like Hu Yi Tian so i cannot wait for him to star in the sequel to this!

Liked:
- Easy to follow, fluffy and cute, everything you want when you decide to watch a romantic comedy. Yang Zi is a great actress and her acting and humor make the whole thing even better. She also really does her character justice and I love how her character is brilliant and has her own hopes and dreams.
- This is probably contested because people tend to hate the use of flashbacks/subplot, but I think this drama does it so well. Like the core of the story is about a group of individuals who had a dream and the story that plays out afterwards, the regret, the disappointment, the reforming of relationships etc.
- Cute sub characters who add to the joy of watching the drama.

Dislikes:
- "love at first sight" meh. I don't really believe in this.
- It felt a bit long at times and I think could have found ways for it to be shorter
- Not enough focus on Hu Yi Tian HEH. Only because I like him a lot lol

WATCH!!! :) It's worth it la

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Easily 10/10

I don’t know why I stumbled with this drama in the beginning, but I must admit that I didn’t regret every single second I watched this! I’m not a gamer and honestly I never too interest with the gaming theme, but I really excited to watch this drama. Well, this drama not exactly about gaming, but about CTF (Catch The Flag), a type of wargame, which is a computer security competition. I’m not fully understand, but I enjoying watching it and somehow understand a little more about CTF.

What I love about this drama is that the CTF, friendship, romance and family have the same portion.
The friendship in K&K team and Team Solo (in the end) is really worth watching for. Their friendship and bond are really sweet makes me want to go to my best friends and give them a hug.
The romance between Han Shang Yan and Tong Nian is really sweet and ridiculous at the same time. At some point I get annoyed at Tong Nian’s attitude or manner to chase Han Shang Yan before he have the feeling for her. But then, I found that that’s really funny I can’t help but laugh. It’s also a cheesy coincidence that their family is an old friend, but thanks to that, the main leads can start their relationship even just a fake relationship. Even it’s just a fake relationship, but I adore how Han Shanyan treat Tong Nian.
The second romance is come from Mi Shaofei and Sun Yaya. Start of idol-fans relationship, their romance is so light and heartwarming. If this drama will have a second season, I want to watch their interaction more.

The first conflict is about friendship of Team Solo, which then divided into two team, K&K and SP. This conflict is not explained directly and explicitly. In the early episodes we were introduced with the conflict, but not until the middle of the drama we understand what the cause of it. The problem solving is so touching and heartbreaking at the same time. What makes it heartbreaking for me is that it’s the first time I saw Han Shang Yan look so sad and lost.

The second conflict is about relationship between Han Shang Yan and Tong Nian. I’m really grateful that the conflict is not about another woman/man. The conflict is come from Tong Nian’s mother and it’s really suffocating. I hate her treatment towards Han Shang Yan and how she forced him to leave her daughter. But, when I place myself into her position, I can understand her reason. Not only Han Shang Yan and Tong Nian have a quite large gap of age, but Han Shang Yan profession is not something can easily accept by any parents, not to mention that Tong Nian’s mother is a teacher.

Now for the positive and negative thing I have for this drama. The positive things are :
1. There’s very little plot hole in this drama I can’t even remember what is the plot hole
2. Each characters are so strong (I will try to describe it in the following paragraph)
3. The extraordinary theme (for me) makes me not bored watching it

As for the negative things are :
1. Tong Nian’s is told to be a genius girl, not to mention she took the major that related to Han Shang Yan business, but the drama didn’t explore her strength. She only asked to make the program for K&K’s speed training and the face recognition at K&K’s building entrance. They can explore more in my opinion.
2. They didn’t show the competition or the comeback of Team Solo. I really want to see their performance (｡•́︿•̀｡)

Now for the acting. First of all, Li Xian (Han Shang Yan). At first, I didn’t really adore him, but his appearance at net café makes me fall head over heels for him. Especially for his physical appearance (≧◡≦) ♡ His acting made Han Shang Yan's character very much alive. He can describe very well for the times when Han Shang Yang became harsh because of his role as leader of the K&K. He can also describe very well Han Shang Yan who is very attentive to his first girlfriend, or Han Shang Yang who is clueless about dating because he is very inexperienced.
Yang Zi’s acting is very adorable too. Even she’s just a year younger than Li Xian, but she can act that she’s much younger than him. Yang Zi also made Tong Nian’s character alive and loveable.
Their chemistry is so real, makes me wish that they’re together in a real life too ( ◡‿◡ *)

Any other casts who I adore because of their acting are Hu Yi Tian and Li Ze Feng.
Hu Yi Tian is played as Han Shang Yan’s cousin (Wu Bai/DT) and he’s like Han Shang Yan’s guardian because of his calmness. Although sometimes he has a different opinion with Han Shang Yan (especially about money), but he is always willing to help Han Shang Yan. He is said to have an interest in Appledog, and I hope there will be a continuation of this drama to tell about the two of them.
Li Ze Feng is played as Han Shang Yang former leader at Team Solo (Wang Hao/Solo). Again, what attract me is his calmness and maturity. Even though Han Shang Yan always showed hatred towards him, he always responded with a smile and still tried to greet or make friends with him again.

Some of music I found for this drama :
1. 无名之辈 (Wúmíng zhī bèi / A Nameless Person) : Chen Xueran (opening theme song)
2. 牛奶面包 (Niúnǎi miànbāo / Milk Bread) : Yang Zi (ending theme song)
3. 爱不由我 (Ài bùyóu wǒ / Love Is Not Up To Me) : You Zhangjing
4. 給未來 (Gěi wèilái / Give to the Future) : Li Xian
5. 我可以不在乎你 (Wǒ kěyǐ bùzàihū nǐ / I Can Not Care About You) : Kimberley Chen
6. Couldn’t Leave : Dimash Kudaibergen
7. 光耀 (Guāngyào / Glory) : Lara Veronin
8. 一起走的幸福 (Yīqǐ zǒu de xìngfú / The Happiness of Walking Together) : Duan Aojuan
9. 海闊天空 (Hǎikuòtiānkōng / Wide Sky) : Fan Yi Chen

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Not to be missed C-Drama!

Watch this drama bcoz of Yang Zi whom I became a fan of after Ashes of Love.
Initially I was a bit hesitant to watch it because it's an old drama, year 2019. But I'm really glad of my decision to watch this drama in spite of it. I can't seem to be able to leave it or move on from it. I'm watching the sequel which is focusing on second lead, Wu Bai love story but kept coming back to this drama. Have been re-watching it since and still unable to move on. Since it has 41 episodes, I still finds it interesting and entertaining to watch. A lot of feel good and humorous scenes.
Those who hasn't watch it yet, do so & you won't regret it!

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I wanted to see what the hype was all about and I'm glad I did. This is such an enjoyable, light and sweet story of an innocent woman with a stalker-like attitude at the beginning and found her true love. It has a lot of cringe-worthy situations that was hilarious. Yang Zi is beautiful, talented and played her role well. I also discovered a dreamy male lead in Li Xian who still looked good while scowling. Surely, you can't help but cheer on this couple especially when the cold male lead turned out to be such a sweetie.

Like I said, it's a sweet story with a nice ending to boot. Great chemistry between main leads. Totally not a waste of your time.

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I fell in love with the male lead immediately. it was my first time seeing him in any drama and I must say he is a very good actor. Then there is Yang Zi! She is just a gem. i watched this after Ashes of Love and i wabted to see her again. I loved her in that but in Go go squid she had the best chemistry with Han Shangyan!! Even I thought she was that young but shes not. The story kept me captivated because it gad nothing to do with power plays or backstabbing but just real life normal issues and overbearing parents. The music is also amazing wchich lead ne to discover the great Hong Kong group Beyond!! Its a nice touching story worth watching. Go team KK!!

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The perfect sunshine-grumpy romcom

My main issue with romcoms is the way they (mis) portray the sunshine and the grump in the sunshine - grumpy trope. The sunshine is always a boundary disrespecting, no filter, hyper active manic pixie girl who is infantalized by a scowling alpha introvert.

I'm very pleased to tell you that this does not happen in Go Go Squid. From the first episode, I loved both Tong Nian and Han Shangyan. The writers get both the characters' shades right. Tong Nian is a sunny, personable, intelligent and accomplished young woman yet she is naive in a way only sheltered young women can be. She is respectful of Han Shangyan's boundaries and pulls down the walls that he's built around himself, one sweet smile at a time. Speaking of the latter, his gruff on the exterior and big softie on the inside personality had me hooked from the get-go. Han Shangyan is not your typical alpha male lead - for all his threatening attitude, he's actually a caring person and very, very vulnerable. The min he realises he's fallen for Tong Nian, you start seeing how he changes (in fact, that mean-to-everyone-but-a-gentle-giant-only-to-her attitude had me MELTING). He does not infantalize her even though he recognises that she's much younger to him not does he get all huffy-puffy and male ego-y because she's much better than him in every aspect (personality, intelligence, education and wealth). He is more than happy to support her just as much as she is ready to support him. Really, their love story was so wholesome to watch.

All additional characters were also wonderful and kind (unlike the extremely bitchy and nasty society shown in LoveO2O) and the production aesthetics one of the best that I've seen in c-dramas (I'm still new. Have only watched 6 thus far).

Go Go Squid has replaced My Little Happiness as the best c-drama I've watched and I cannot wait to discover more of Li Xian and Yang Zi's works.

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It was okay

I knew this drama was big when it was aired but I just got the chance and the will to watch it since I needed more of Li Xian's acting after finishing Meet Yourself. The plot itself is actually fine, the flashbacks and the foundations of the plot and the gaming competitions scenes are fine and quite interesting, but I just cannof bear to watch some scenes. The earlier episodes where FL chased ML relentlessly, trespassed and bothered him and ML always wanted to avoid conflict by not denying anything bother me a lot. It just doesn't make sense to me. FL character is too dependent, too clingy, and too giving to the ML even tho she is a Master student with IQ 140. FL also isn't bothered by the actions of ML that keeps taking her for granted (in early episodes) and huting her, she is too accepting. ML character who likes to throw tantrum without communicating it out also bothers me. He supposed to be 30, at least he can talk. I skipped some scenes. Thankfully, it gets better in the latter episodes and it was okay. Li Xian is very handsome and Yang Zi is very cute. I endured just to see them.

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